New or Used?

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Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
My general rule of thumb is:
Stay away from old cars with low miles. Granny cars only driven to the store and back are heavily abused.


I'll back you up on that one.
Mom's ride is a 99 Buick Park Ave.
12,500 miles with an oil change and detail every six months.
Just had a major service will all the fluids changed out about three months ago. That also included intake and injector cleaning.

I wouldn't want that car even if it was free.

Problems,
1. Needed new hood. Rust
2. Has had body rust repaired
(Small area edge of windshield and roof, trim strip on inside bottom of all four doors replaced for rust.
3. Two new brake lines (Rusted out)
4. Replaced all four rotors and pads (Rust)
5. New AC Compressor (Lack of Use)

Parked about 150 yards from the high tide line on the Gulf of Mexico.

Like he said what VW depreciates like a Hyundai?
I've was looking for a used TDI and gave up because
there was no way I was paying what they were going for used.
Even the 1.8L and 2.0L Passat's are not dropping as much as I would like. Any used car that is pulling to high side in fuel mileage is pretty much over valued right now.
 
wn1998,

If you are patient, search Autotrader or Craigslist for a Corolla or Civic in the $6K - $8K price range.

40+ MPG , cheap on maintenance and insurance.
 
For me, used cars need to be nearly new (ie warranty and not normally about to break) or very cheap...so I can afford to fix them up without then having too much in them.

I have a hard time buying a "tweener" used car. Seems like the worst of both worlds...still a fair bit of money, but likely to need work. If I am going to spend a bunch, I want to have a very good idea of what I am getting. If I have to work on it, it needs to be cheap!

My $0.02
 
When I look at a new car I'm not like Joe Blow who just sees shiny new paint, I see a collection of new parts. Ooo, look at that shiny brake cylinder!!!

As far a depreciation, iirc VW is the BEST, overtaking MB some time ago. A good example was the Jetta Wagon TDI, $24 new vs the same price for a Sable wagon. 5 years later that Jetta was still worth like $17-$18k while the Sable tanked at like 8 grand.
 
Originally Posted By: ALS
VeeDubb said:
My general rule of thumb is:
Stay away from old cars with low miles. Granny cars only driven to the store and back are heavily abused.


Ain't that the truth. My friend bought a 94 Caprice in 07 with only 10K miles on it. It was a granny car and she never went on the highway. All she used it for was for shopping and doctor visits. All within a couple of miles from her home. My friend worked 70 miles from home. All highway driving. The first day he took it on the highway and reached 70MPH he blew the engine.
 
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Are you trying to be funny or did you actually do some research?
Ok, tell me how well the Phaeton, Touareg and Passat hold their value.
 
With that 15-18k price range, you could get a new '09 AWD Suzuki SX4.

There are also some used/low mileage '07 & '08 models available too.

Suzuki's 100,000 mile warranty is fully transferable, so maybe "used" can still be an option.
 
Originally Posted By: Aldaris
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Are you trying to be funny or did you actually do some research?
Ok, tell me how well the Phaeton, Touareg and Passat hold their value.


1. I said *some* VWs hold their value well.

2. You said *all* VWs depreciate like Hyundais.

I presume you know the difference between *some* and *all* don't you?

Thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Originally Posted By: Aldaris
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Are you trying to be funny or did you actually do some research?
Ok, tell me how well the Phaeton, Touareg and Passat hold their value.


1. I said *some* VWs hold their value well.

2. You said *all* VWs depreciate like Hyundais.

I presume you know the difference between *some* and *all* don't you?

Thanks.

I said every VW I know of. And when I was in the market for automobiles, those were the ones I got to know about, and thusly I know of them. I did not say ALL.

Jeez.
 
Once again thanks to BITOG it has really open my eys when it comes to new or used cars. Im hoping to find something in the next few years for my wife.
 
Originally Posted By: Aldaris
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
Originally Posted By: Aldaris
VeeDubb said:
Are you trying to be funny or did you actually do some research?
Ok, tell me how well the Phaeton, Touareg and Passat hold their value.


1. I said *some* VWs hold their value well.

2. You said *all* VWs depreciate like Hyundais.

I presume you know the difference between *some* and *all* don't you?

Thanks.

Quote:

I said every VW I know of. And when I was in the market for automobiles, those were the ones I got to know about, and thusly I know of them. I did not say ALL.

Jeez.


You and I both know where you were going with your original statement. And I decided to have a little fun with you.

And no, VWs do not depreciate like Hyundais. In fact, name one VW that depreciates like a Hyundai. And please keep the comparison in the same class (example: don't compare a $40K Toureg to a $12K Elantra econo car).
 
I know for myself, I will never buy a new car/truck again. I was shocked to find out that I would only get about 50% back for my 2006 Suzuki when we traded it in to get the Highlander. However, I think I got an excellent deal on the Highlander. So it worked out, but yes I will always second guess buying new. I bought my truck new too, but I was younger then and didn't have all of the wisdom here at BITOG with me.
grin2.gif
 
My Yaris only lost about 2K since purchase... Mind you, I got mine below invoice, and I'm not counting registration or taxes. I purchased mine new as buying an econo-box used is always a roll of the dice on how well it's been treated. Generally speaking, people take much better care of their Cadillac CTS as opposed to the average Sunfire.
 
here in the STATES the book value has gone up due to high gas prices , the demand for the YARIS , and it's shortage to buy . Go to http://www.kbb.com and look under USED CARS for 2008 YARIS book value , quite impressive , for the time being that is .
 
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I hear you guys say that you don't pay much over invoice. Is there a way to find out what the invoice price of the car was?
 
it'll be very difficult to get a YARIS near invoice these days . When we got the '08 5 speed manual Liftback gas was over $1 cheaper so they were'nt moving as quickly . Bought it in NOVEMBER as well , so that helped a bit . Not long after we got the Liftback there were REBATES from TOYOTA due to slow sales . I think at one time it may have been $1000 off in some locations . Others $ 500 . Also , the price has increased about $300 since NOVEMBER of '07 . More of increase is likely .
 
I agree with buy low depreciation car new, and high depreciation car used, but why limit yourself to only one way or the other. If you can afford a new car, look at both and see what you get a better deal on at the moment. Sometimes incentives or economic condition makes it harder to buy a low cost used car, and sometimes it is hard to buy a new efficient car that is in high demand.

Reliability research should be done on the model, on the internet. See if it has known common problems to look for, and whether it is fixed or not in the later models.
 
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